Unleash the Tyrant
by Serpent1
Summary: An ancient warrior imprisoned for 300 years has been unleashed upon Mobius. Blessed with the powers of the underworld, he is unstoppable. There is only one way for Sonic to defeat him but will he lose his soul in the attempt?


Unleash the Tyrant  
  
Disclaimer: None of the Sonic characters are mine. Tyrannus and Kendo are.  
  
-1-  
  
300 years ago  
  
The burning torches dimly lit the tunnel inside the great stone tomb. The rough, mossy walls and ceiling were damp with moisture from the rain pelting down outside and tiny puddles of water were forming on the stone floor. On the outside, the tomb appeared to have an ancient Roman design; square with the peaked roof and two large stone pillars in front. The entranceway was guarded by two life size stone statues of a warrior, holding his sword in front of him, blade pointing downward with an evil glare upon his face that would warn all would be intruders not to enter. This tomb had been constructed not to house the body of a respected and honored warrior, but to become the eternal prison of the warrior whose likeness adorned the statues in the front. For many years, he had been the bane of the many villages and towns that was littered in and around the Great Forest, raiding them whenever he and his tribe wished, killing anyone who stood in their path. But more recently, he had taken a more terrifying turn. Through the power of black magic and sorcerery, he had acquired great and terrible power, that had transformed him into a more horrifying creature then he had been before. So much so that his own tribe had decided to abandon him out of fear. This drove him into a wild rage and he unleashed the full force of his powers upon them. Not one survived.  
  
Since then, many brave and, as some would believe naïve, warriors had gone on campaigns to attempt to capture this creature but every one of them had failed. Their weapons had proven to be useless against him. And he had killed them all. This was why the people only called him by one fitting name; Tyrannus. The mere mention of it was enough to make even the bravest warrior begin to tremble. He had been the largest and most brutal of a tribe of Komodo dragon raiders who lived for nothing but to wage war and to inflict pain and suffering. The sight of them charging across a battlefield or entering a town was nothing short of terrifying. The rest of the tribe would be screaming and roaring with battle lust while Tyrannus himself remained eerily quiet but the look upon his face would prove he was consumed with the same burning desire as they were. He allowed the warriors of his tribe to plunder the village and murder the residents while he began searching for one specific item, a black emerald that could be used to summon the very powers of the underworld itself. And it was written that whoever summoned those powers who become invincible and be granted the gift of immortality. All of Mobius quaked in fear the day he attained this. Now, nothing and no one could stop him.  
  
But his reign of terror was short lived. No more then three weeks after he had attained the powers of the underworld and had exterminated his tribe then he was surrounded in the Great Forest by a tribe of Mobians who had banded together for the soul purpose of putting an end to him. Tyrannus simply laughed at the foolish warriors and even dared them to try and destroy him. Normally, at the sound of this taunt, a band of warriors would immediately charge into battle but now, not one moved. This made the komodo very uneasy and he flicked his large forked tongue, tasting the air. He could smell their fear. Why were they not attacking? His answer came when the shaman of the group stepped forward with the black emerald clutched in his paw. It seemed that while he had been away, spies from the group had found and entered his camp, stealing the emerald. Enraged, Tyrannus drew his sword and started to charge. Seeing this, the shaman shouted out the words of a spell and the emerald in his paw began to glow an eerie red. A beam of energy shot out and struck Tyrannus in the chest, stopping him dead in his tracks and draining him of his powers. It seemed he had forgotten, not only could the emerald grant someone the powers of the underworld, it could also strip them of it. His powers gone, Tyrannus slumped down to his knees where he was immediately captured by the group.  
  
Now they had brought him to this stone tomb deep in the Great Forest. The interior had been divided into two rooms, one that would house the black emerald and the other that would be Tyrannus' own prison. The komodo had been struggling and straining against his captors, screaming curses and vowing that this tomb would never hold him for long. Inside, many of the warriors even wondered if the black emerald had really stripped Tyrannus of all his powers. They were not ready to take that big a chance however, as they dragged him to the second room in the tomb. Inside the room was circular, lit by four torches with a large, granite coffin in the center. The shaman ordered the lid of the coffin to be opened and with much straining and grunting, three warriors managed to slide it off. The shaman now turned to Tyrannus and began to cast a second spell. This spell was to ensure that no one would be able to resurrect the evil being again. Holding out a small glass vial, the shaman spoke the final words of the spell and Tyrannus suddenly jerked as a wave of pain shot through his body, causing his scaly hide to glow. As the warriors watched in shock, the komodos very life essence was stripped from him and contained inside the vial in the shamans paw. The lifeless body slumped in the arms of the warriors who dragged it to the coffin and placed it inside. With the lid successfully replaced, the group exited the tomb while the shaman hid the glass vial with Tyrannus' life essence inside in a special place within the stone walls themselves and with the help of his magic, the tomb was sealed.  
  
-2-  
  
Present day  
  
"Priority one hedgehog in sight," the monotone voice of a robot droned out to his comrades, "detain and capture."  
  
The small unit of SWATbots had been chasing the blue hedgehog for at least an hour straight. Their laser weapons fired repeatedly, each one set to kill as were their orders from the maniacal scientist Dr. Robotnik. It had long been Robotnik's dream to see his nemesis Sonic the Hedgehog transformed into a mindless, subservient robot, forever bound to do only the deranged doctor's wishes. But each time he thought of a plan that couldn't possibly fail, the super fast rodent would always find some sort of loophole that would allow him to send whatever plan, or robot, that Robotnik devised spiraling to the ground in a ball of flame. This never seemed to deter the mad doctor and he would come up with a new plan at least a week after the previous one had failed. But lately, he seemed to be in a bit of rut. No matter what he thought of, he began having a strange feeling that it wouldn't work as long as Sonic was alive. In his haste and anger, he ordered his minions to find and eliminate that blue menace before his new plan could take shape. Once Sonic was out of the way, there would be nothing to stop him for achieving his ultimate goal; total domination of Mobius. But as he soon realized, the act of taking out Sonic was next to impossible. The rodents speed was unmatched by anything living or robotic and he soon saw the error of his decision. On the other hand, by constantly keeping Sonic and the Freedom Fighters on edge, it might keep them so distracted that any new plans he concocted with might actually work.  
  
Sonic meanwhile, was having his fun leading the unit of robots around the city of Robotropolis, taunting them by slowing down enough for them to almost catch up, then speeding off, not at his maximum speed, but merely half speed, just enough that he could easily keep the robots in sight. He even took a chance at running backward for short distances, laughing as the robots struggled to keep up with him. Robotnik had been quiet for the past few days and Princess Sally had started becoming worried. She had asked Sonic to go to Robotropolis to see if there was any sign at all of what Robotnik might or could be planning. Before she had had an opportunity to tell him to be careful, Sonic had already agreed, took a communicator and sped off with only a cloud of dust and smoke in his wake. The polluted, smoggy choked city, which was filled with huge factories and legions of robots everywhere didn't seem to be very active for some reason. The factories themselves weren't belching out as much smog as usual. This always made Sonic uneasy because there had been times before when the city had gone quiet for a few days only to have Robotnik suddenly and quickly lash out with a terrible vengeance. But this time, everything almost seemed to be at a standstill. Sonic skillfully wandered about the city, searching for any sign that there would be any retaliation from the dictator but found nothing to suggest that he was up to anything. He had decided to contact Sally and tell her about his findings when he was spotted by the unit of SWATbots. Normally, he would've sped out of there as fast as he could but today, he decided to have a little fun first.  
  
"Is that all you guys got?" Sonic taunted as he now ran backwards again, easily dodging blast after blast, "damn, you guys are getting old."  
  
Seeing the robots getting closer, he turned back around and sped up, once again gaining distance. This taunting for the past hour had been fun and all, but being Sonic, it was now becoming boring very quickly. There clearly wasn't anything unusual happening so, in his mind, there wasn't any need for him to stick around. Time to end this, he thought as he sped down a nearby alleyway which he had noticed was a dead end. Once again, this was another of his tricks, and as usual it was working like a charm. He screeched to a halt at the high concrete wall and casually leaned against it, waiting for the SWATbots to catch up. It didn't take them long. They marched to about three feet away from him and aimed their guns at him, to which Sonic simply smirked. As they were about to fire, he suddenly raced straight toward them and, curling into his protective ball, rolled right through the group, sending some flying into the sides of the buildings while others were instantly destroyed by mistaken shots from their comrades. Springing back to his feet at the entrance of the alleyway, Sonic turned and smirked with confidence at the smoldering pile of metal. Not wanting to be around when reinforcements arrived, he took off again, this time at full speed, a trail of fire the only thing indicating he had even been there.  
  
"I thought you said you were going to contact me on the communicator," Sally scolded when Sonic returned and told her what he had found.  
  
"Sorry about that Sal," Sonic said as he placed the communicator on the table, "guess I forgot. You know, having too much fun with those bots."  
  
Sally had to smile, it was impossible for her to resist Sonics off- beat sense of humor. Now, she teasingly poked him in the chest and said, "And one of these days Sonic, you're going to screw up."  
  
Sonics eyebrows shot up but the confident smile remained. "Me? Screw up?" he asked, trying to look as innocent as he could, "no way that's going to happen Sal."  
  
The princess laughed quietly to herself as she turned from him, before sarcastically adding, "Yeah, Sonic, that's what you always say."  
  
"You know it," Sonic remarked and before Sally could say another word to him, he was gone, heading off toward his own hut for a bit of rest.  
  
As he was nearing the small hut, he noticed Tails standing outside waiting for him. This, he found kind of odd because normally, whenever he needed Tails for something, or when anyone needed Tails for anything, the little fox was always in his workshop tinkering away with some sort of project. The fox brightened at the sight of the hedgehogs return.  
  
"Tails," Sonic said as he skidded to a stop outside his front door, "what are you doing hanging out here? Shouldn't you be upgrading the Tornado or something?"  
  
Tails chuckled. "I was testing my new radar," he said with a smile, "and I found what looks like the ruins of a village just off to the west of Robotropolis."  
  
Sonics smiled instantly evaporated. When he heard the words "ruin" and "Robotropolis" in the same sentence, that told him only one thing; Robotnik had struck again. Tails noticed the change in his friends face and spoke quickly.  
  
"No, no, it isn't like that," he said, waving his hands slightly as if trying to calm Sonic down, "this ruin looks about three hundred years old."  
  
Sonic rolled his eyes, folded his arms and tapped his foot, all the while staring at Tails' eager looking face. "Let me guess, you want to go check it out right?"  
  
"Just a little," Tails answered, trying to sound as if he wasn't as interested in it as he was. But the ploy had no effect on Sonic. He could see right through Tails' façade, the smile on his face would almost have to be surgically removed. At last, he gave a small chuckle and ruffled the fox's hair. "Sure buddy. We'll check it out later on this afternoon."  
  
Tails smile grew even larger at that response. "Cool! Thanks Sonic, you're the best!" he cried and he turned and took off toward his own hut, probably to wait out the hours until Sonic was ready to go. Sonic watched his friend disappear and sighed as he went inside his hut. Just great, he thought as he slipped off his shoes and stretched out on his bed, looking at a bunch of three hundred year old buildings for god knows how long. That kid is going to drive me crazy. He changed position a couple of times before he finally dozed off. He'd better get a good nap in now, because once they got to that village, it would be a battle and a half to even stay awake. His final thought before drifting off to sleep; what have I gotten myself into?  
  
-3-  
  
Later that afternoon, Sonic and Tails raced through the Great Forest, heading for the ancient ruin that Tails had discovered on his new radar. As the foliage flashed past them in a blur of green, Sonic glanced over at Tails and couldn't for the life of him figure out what Tails seemed so excited about. It was just a bunch of old buildings, if they were still intact at that. They were probably made of stone, with moss around the edges of the stone and little pieces of pottery and old tools inside, nothing more and nothing less. To Sonic, it wasn't even worth the bother of taking the trip in the first place. He could've spent this time having another look around Robotropolis. There was something there that really didn't sit too well with him. It was like something was watching him, and it was always just out of view and out of reach. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but whatever it was, it was worth taking a second look around. Hell, anything would've been better then what he was stuck with now. They'd been running for what seemed like forever and the hedgehog was starting to wonder whether Tails had actually seen something or was it just a trick to get Sonic to race with him again. His answer came when he saw Tails point ahead of them. The ruin was there, just as Tails had seen.  
  
The village itself wasn't as much of a ruin that they had originally thought it would be. The buildings were in good condition for being three hundred years old. As Sonic had thought, they were made of large square blocks of stone with a peaked roof as the ancient Romans had designed. Sonic stepped inside one of the homes and had a quick look around. Again, just as he had suspected, there wasn't much to the buildings themselves, just four square walls, just high enough that the peak in the roof was about two feet above their heads. How they managed to keep the roofs from collapsing was something Sonic couldn't figure out before he caught himself and dismissed the thought completely. Why should it matter how these people kept their houses from falling on their heads? He wandered back outside again and looked for Tails who was standing at the entrance to what seemed like an ancient temple.  
  
"Have you had enough yet?" Sonic asked, clearly indicating that he had. Tails didn't answer he was too mesmerized by the two giant statues that stood at either side of the entrance.  
  
"Imagine what that guy was like," he said as he pointed at the snarling visage of the statue. Sonic casually looked up at it and sighed with boredom. "Probably no worse and dumber that old Buttnik is," he said irritably. Ignoring the remark, Tails walked up the three stone steps and went inside, with Sonic sauntering behind him, completely and utterly bored. As the two went inside the temple like structure, a third Mobian stepped out from his hiding place in the shadows behind one of the homes. Dressed in a hooded black cloak and carrying a long staff in both hands, he cautiously followed Sonic and Tails into the structure, keeping a safe distance to avoid being detected.  
  
Tails walked slowly through the dimly lit hall and stopped by the first room on the left. Glancing inside, he noticed what looked like a dark version of the Master Emerald sitting on a small cylindrical altar in the center of the room. This emerald was slightly smaller though and had a longer tail then the Master Emerald but seeing that wasn't giving off any light or energy, the fox assumed it was just another statue and moved on. At the end of the hall, they came into a large octagonal shaped room with a large, stone coffin in its center. The ravages of time had certainly taken its toll as the coffin was badly eroded by the rain falling through the small hole in the ceiling and its lid was deeply cracked from the changing weather.  
  
"Big deal, an old coffin," Sonic said irritably as he walked into the room, "can we juice outta here?"  
  
"Did you see that big emerald in the other room?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I saw it," Sonic said, growing more irritable, and before Tails could say anything he added, "and yeah, it does look like Knuxs."  
  
Ignoring Sonics irritated tone of voice, Tails began inspecting the stone coffin more closely, wondering how anyone could've carved that using only simple tools. Sonic meanwhile, growing even more bored pressed his hand against the side of a wall and leaned on it. No sooner had he done so then the stone slid into the wall, catching him off guard. He jumped back and watched as a second stone just beneath the one that he had just pushed in, slid open to reveal a small glass vial filled with something like looked like mercury, only this stuff was a few shades darker in color. Carefully, the hedgehog took the glass vial out of the secret compartment and looked at the liquid inside. He shook the vial a little and even removed the rubber cap and smelled it. It had no smell and it looked like liquid metal.  
  
"Yo, Tails check this out," he called to the fox. Looking up from behind the coffin, Tails saw the vial in Sonics hand; he came over to take a closer look.  
  
"What the hell is that stuff?" he asked, as he too smelled it and shook the vial.  
  
"Something the likes of you should not tamper with," a voice snarled.  
  
Spinning around, Sonic and Tails looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a hooded figure standing at the entranceway of the second room. They couldn't see the figure's face or body very well because of the dim light, only his paws were slightly visible as they held the long wooden staff.  
  
"Christ, don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" Sonic snapped, as the figure slowly came toward them.  
  
The figure stood the staff by his side and extended his paw. "Give me the vial," he growled, "and no harm shall come to either of you."  
  
"Who are you?" Tails asked.  
  
The figure slowly removed his hood and stepped into the dim light, revealing a jet black panther with bright yellow eyes that seemed like they could peer deep into you soul. He glared at the young fox before speaking again, "I am Kendo, protector of this tomb. You two have no business here. Now, hand it over hedgehog."  
  
"What's so special about this?" Sonic demanded, "It's just a stupid."  
  
"That is no concern of yours," the panther interrupted harshly, "don't test my patience hedgehog. Give it to me, now!"  
  
By now, Sonic was becoming fed up with this. He flashed his typical smirk, leaned on the coffin and started tossing the vial up and down in his hand. Kendo eyed him with a cold, deathly stare that made Tails feel very nervous. He and Sonic had no idea what Kendo was capable of, and to be honest, the fox had no intention of finding out.  
  
"And what if I don't?" Sonic taunted, seeing the look on the panthers face, "what are you going to do about it?"  
  
Kendo slowly lowered his paw and his eyes flashed with anger. He tapped the end of the staff on the ground and the other end suddenly transformed into a razor sharp point which he lifted and aimed toward Sonics throat. He spoke in a low, and menacing tone.  
  
"You have no idea who you're dealing with, hedgehog. If you won't give me the vial, then I have no choice but to take it."  
  
Before Sonic could answer, Kendo swung the sharp edge of his staff toward the hedgehog's throat. Only Sonics lightning fast reflexes saved him from getting his throat slashed or, judging by the size of the blade, decapitated. He grabbed hold of the staff, held it down and fired a quick punch to Kendos face and the panther stumbled back a few steps. Undaunted, Kendo immediately retaliated by spinning completely around, swinging his staff as he went, forcing Sonic to duck. No sooner had the staff swung by that Sonic felt the full force of Kendos foot slamming into his chest with a force so strong that it sent the hedgehog flying back into the side of the coffin. Attempting to aid his friend, Tails threw himself at the panther, tackling him and forcing him into the wall. Kendo however, was much stronger then the fox had predicted and he shoved the fox away from him and floored him with two straight blows to his head from his staff.  
  
"Alright asshole," Sonic snarled as he picked himself up, "now you really pissing me off."  
  
He rushed at the panther, hoping to use his speed to throw him off balance but Kendo saw him coming. He sidestepped the blue blur and easily tripped him with the edge of his staff, sending him tumbling head over heels into the wall. The vial slipped from his hand when he was tripped and Kendo snatched it out of the air. What he didn't see was Tails had regained his senses. The fox charged again and crashed into the side of the panther, tackling him to the floor and sending the vial flying from his paw.  
  
"No!!" Kendo screamed as he watched the vial fly across the room and shatter atop the coffin lid. The three furries watched in silence as the silvery liquid seeped into the coffin through the large cracks. Kicking Tails off, Kendo ran to the coffin just in time to see the last of the fluid disappear between the cracks. He picked up the remnants of the vial and turned to Sonic and Tails furiously.  
  
"You idiots," he screamed as he smashed the pieces of the vial on the floor, "do you realize what you've done?!"  
  
"Hey, you're the one who attacked us," Sonic retorted, helping Tails to stand.  
  
"You don't understand," Kendo snarled angrily, grabbing his staff off the floor, "that vial held the very life essence of the most evil being to ever live!"  
  
Sonic was about to issue another smart-aleck retort when they all heard a loud, guttural moan. His eyes widening with fear, Kendo slowly stepped away from the coffin as smoke began to pour from the cracks in its lid. This meant that his worst fear had come true; the tyrant had been awakened.  
  
-4-  
  
The three Mobians stood and watched in silent horror, as the smoke pouring from the lid of the coffin seemed to change from white to green. A second moan suddenly emanated from the coffin and its heavy stone lid began to shake. Kendo immediately stepped back again and raised his staff to its fighting position. Sonic and Tails however, were too stunned by what was happening to even react. The lid began shaking more and more violently as if whatever or whoever was inside must really wanted to get out. Then, as suddenly as it had happened, everything ceased. The smoke dissipated, the shaking stopped, and the whole room went deathly quiet. Kendo gripped his staff tightly.  
  
As Sonic began to slowly move toward the coffin, the lid suddenly exploded, knocking the three off their feet and forcing them to shield themselves from the flying debris. Slowly, a large half rotted hand emerged, followed by a second, which gripped the sides of the coffin and hauled up the rest of the decomposing body into a sitting position. They could see this thing had been reptilian at one time, there were still some loose pieces of scaly, dried flesh hanging from the arms and fingertips but the rest of the body hadn't faired so well. There was hardly any flesh at all from the chest down, save for some scarce patches, only the raw muscle and bone. The creature did have a ragged belt encircling its bony hips which looked as if it might crumble to dust at the slightest touch. The fingers of this creature had large claws about an inch long that appeared to be covered in ancient, dried on blood, but it was the head that was the most terrifying feature. Both of the creature's eyes had long since rotted away, leaving two empty sockets, the majority of its flesh was gone and the muscles themselves seemed to be barely intact. It stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths into a chest cavity that seemed to house no lungs at all before it took a final deep breath and letting out a long, wailing scream. The scream sounded like a mixture of rage and agony, so loud that all three of the furries had to cover their ears.  
  
"What the fuck is that?" Sonic hoarsely whispered, his voice failing him. But before Kendo could answer him, the head of the living corpse slowly turned to face them. It's hideous face twisted and contorted into a look of pure hatred. An angry growl stirred quietly in its rotting throat.  
  
"We cannot allow him to reach the dark emerald," Kendo said, regaining his composure, "if he does, your world is doomed."  
  
The creature slowly climbed out of the coffin, its lifeless eyes still locked on the three Mobians in front of it. Suddenly, its head lifted and it stared out into the hall leading to the entrance and the first room. A purplish light now shone brightly from the room where the emerald sat. The look of hate disappeared from its face and was replaced by a sickening smile. With shuffling steps, it began to walk toward the glow.  
  
"Hey!" Sonic yelled, dashing in front of the walking corpse, "where do you think you're going?"  
  
The creature snarled and viciously swiped at Sonics head. The super fast hedgehog easily dodged out of the way, then attacked, sending a flurry of fists thudding into the monstrosity's chest and head. The final blow managed to knock the head almost off the body, but the muscles held tight, preventing that from happening. With its head dangling over its back, the creature remained standing and, as if it could still see, grabbed the shocked hedgehog by the throat and slammed him ferociously against the near wall, knocking the wind out of him. Kendo and Tails quickly rushed in to aid Sonic, letting loose with a barrage of blows. They kept moving, not giving the creature a chance to grab them. Finally, it swatted Tails away, causing him to tumble into Kendo. It then took hold of its dangling head and pulled it back up so it reconnected with its neck then, taking a few steps back, it waited until all three of its adversaries had risen and with a roar, it stretched out its right hand. Streaks of red energy bolts erupted from its clawed fingers, sending its foes crashing to the ground. Tails, who was the closest to the creature after the blast, tried to stand but his limbs felt like they were being pinned down.  
  
"Sonic.I.can't..move!" Tails cried. The other two soon came to the same realization.  
  
"He must.still.have some.of his powers," Kendo groaned.  
  
With a satisfied growl, the creature turned and shuffled toward the purplish glow. Even though it was painstakingly difficult, Sonic managed to drag himself down the hall after the creature, having just enough strength to reach the doorway of the first room and peer inside. The creature stood in front of the glowing emerald, speaking in a different language, as if summoning something. The whirling glow of the emerald began to move faster and faster, the light becoming brighter until finally, the creature placed its hands atop it. The same blasts of energy now shot out from the emerald, engulfing the creature's entire body. To Sonics horror, the flesh, muscle and skin began growing back on the once rotted body of the creature. Its cries of pain were soon replaced by a growing fit of insane laughter that was even worse than Robotnik's. At last, the energy and glow of the emerald vanished and the laughter ceased. In its wake, the creature's body was now fully regenerated, revealing a large, muscular Komodo dragon, with a thick, leather belt around his waist that held two large daggers and a second belt that stretched across his large chest and over his left shoulder to hold a deadly kirehashi blade. The strangest feature was his eyes there were no pupils, just an empty black void. Hearing the hedgehog grunt as he pulled himself into the room, the komodo grinned wickedly and chuckled.  
  
"Laugh all you want," Sonic snapped as he struggled to get to his feet, "it'll take a lot more then that to finish me."  
  
With a small laugh, the komodo quickly charged at him and viciously kicked Sonic in the side of the head, sending him to the floor with a dull thud. It seemed amused as it watched the hedgehog try to stand. He held out his hand and levitated the hedgehog so that they were face to face.  
  
"Pathetic creature," he said with a snort.  
  
With that, he thrust his hand to the left, tossing Sonic out of his way and made his way toward the entrance of the tomb, completely ignoring Kendo and Tails who were also dragging themselves forward. He stepped out of the tomb into the fresh air and his sickening smile adorned his features. He was free, after three hundred years of being imprisoned in that cursed tomb. This time, there would be no one and nothing to stop him from reclaiming his rightful place as ruler of Mobius. He held his arms slightly out to his sides and his body was surrounded by a glowing orb of red energy. An instant later, he was gone, the red orb becoming a comet like fireball, streaking off to the east toward Robotropolis, leaving only a small burnt crater in the its wake. No sooner had he vanished then the effects of his energy attack wore off. The three furries rushed outside to find the burnt crater.  
  
"We don't have much time," Kendo said grimly as he pawed at the scorched earth, "once Tyrannus' body has been regenerated by the dark emerald, his powers will soon return as well."  
  
"Tails, you and Kendo head back to Knothole and tell Sal what's going on," Sonic said, "I've got some unfinished business with that freak!"  
  
"Sonic!" Kendo yelled, but the blue blur was already gone, disappearing in the direction the fireball had gone, a cloud of dust and smoke trailing behind him. Growing more frustrated with Sonics recklessness, the panther turned to Tails and ordered, "Go and warn your people. I'll try to follow Sonic as best I can."  
  
"How will we know where you guys are?" Tails asked, "Me and Sonic forgot to bring communicators."  
  
"It shouldn't be too hard," Kendo answered, stifling a growl, "now go!"  
  
As Tails sped off, Kendo sighed irritably. That hedgehog is going to get himself killed, he thought as he ran after Sonic following the dissipating cloud of dust. He has no clue of what he's getting himself into or what he's facing. Tyrannus could kill him with one blow! His pace quickened as his own fears began to crawl up into his throat. He had been told of the terrifying fury with which Tyrannus used his demonic powers in the past and the havoc he had created. Even though they had successfully captured and imprisoned him, his ancestors had no idea what kind of powers the komodo even had and it was painfully clear they hadn't drained it all. Now, after being imprisoned for three hundred years, Tyrannus' anger would have only increased in his desire to rule Mobius. No one, not even Sonic, would be able to stand up to him much less defeat him. The panther followed Sonics trail to the edge of Robotropolis where it disappeared amongst the scattered garbage, useless hulks of destroyed robots and thick smog. Finding the hedgehog would be much more difficult now, if he could even find him at all. Pulling his hood back over his head, the panther slipped into the shadows to begin his search.  
  
-5-  
  
Racing along as fast as his rotor tails could spin, Tails hurried toward Knothole, hoping that he could alert the Freedom Fighters quickly enough that they could help Sonic and Kendo. His twists and turns in the path were reckless and erratic. The foliage ahead of him seemed to blend and blur making it difficult for him to realize where he was or how close he was to Knothole. But at that moment, he didn't care as long as he could reach the village in time. His thoughts were clouded with horrific images of that half rotted corpse coming alive and it made him shudder. It was just like the nightmares he used to have when he was younger except that in his dream, there were hundreds of them, even one for each of his friends but here there was just one. But even so, seeing just one living corpse rising from the grave and seeing the weird powers it obviously possessed was enough to scare the living hell out of him. He was so busy thinking about what he and Sonic had seen that he didn't even notice that he had returned to Knothole until he heard Sally's frantic voice yelling his name.  
  
"Tails!" she yelled when she saw the young fox heading straight toward her. Snapping out of his visions, Tails dug his heels into the ground and nearly toppled over when he finally came to a halt in front of Sally.  
  
"Aunt Sally," he stammered, trying to draw in some air, "the ruins..coffin..alive...emerald." He seemed so tired and scared that he couldn't get the words to describe what happened to come out of his mouth.  
  
"Tails, calm down," Sally said, kneeling down in front of him and putting her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to calm him, "I can't understand a word you're saying."  
  
After getting some much needed breaths of air, Tails tried to calm himself down and started again. "Sonic and I went to the ruins I found this morning. We found this old coffin inside some tomb thingy and the thing that was in it, it came to life. There was an emerald in another room; it looked something like Knuckles' emerald but longer."  
  
"Longer?" Sally asked, confused.  
  
"Yes longer," Tails insisted, growing impatient, "it brought him back to life and now, Sonics gone after him. Kendo told me to tell you guys because he thinks Sonic isn't strong enough to beat this guy."  
  
"Who is Kendo?" the princess wanted to know. Tails sighed, realizing in his haste, he had completely forgotten to tell Sally about Kendo.  
  
"He's the guy that was supposed to guard the coffin," he said, "he sent me here to tell you about this guy. We have to help Sonic."  
  
"Alright, we will," Sally told him even though the whole story, to her, seemed completely ludicrous, "Where did they say they were going?"  
  
"Sonic and Kendo both took off toward Robotropolis," Tails said.  
  
"I'll call Knuckles and ask him to meet us here," the princess said, starting off toward her hut with Tails following, "we're probably going to need his help."  
  
Patrolling their assigned sector of the city, a group of five SWAT bots marched slowly down a street, blasters ready and set to kill anyone who dared to cross paths with them. Their master, Robotnik, had issued specific orders to keep a sharp lookout for Sonic, for he had the belief that the band of rebels might think he had been weakened by their previous strike a few weeks ago and launch a second. Their mechanical eyes scanned the area until one of them picked up a strange noise that seemed to be growing closer. He and his group stopped and looked skyward to see a large, red fireball falling from the sky toward them.  
  
"Unidentified projectile in." he began before the fireball slammed into the ground, instantly destroying the small unit in a wall of flame. No sooner had the flame incinerated the robots then it subsided, revealing the large form of Tyrannus standing in the burnt crater. He stepped out and slowly turned his head from left to right, observing these strange surroundings. He flicked his large forked tongue, tasting the air for any sign of a living being but found nothing. Only cold, lifeless machinery greeted him, mixed with the sounds of mechanical footsteps heading in his direction. Ignoring the sounds, the komodo began to walk away from the smoldering crater and explore the city.  
  
"Surrender lizard," a monotone voice ordered from behind him, "you're under arrest."  
  
Tyrannus completely ignored it and kept walking. The lead SWATbot raised his weapon and fired. The laser blast harmlessly bounced off the komodos leathery skin. Where the blast had hit, there was nothing but a small piece of ash remaining. It had been a full power blast, but it had as much effect on the monster as if the robot had hit him with a pebble. Slowly Tyrannus turned, his black, void like eyes glaring at the robots. He lifted his hand and tensed his fingers, creating a ball of red energy in his palm. As the SWATbot ordered him to surrender again, Tyrannus suddenly drew his arm to the side and flung it across in front of him, sending a curved beam of energy at the robots, destroying them instantly. Flicking his tongue out tasting the air again, Tyrannus turned and continued walking unknowingly heading in the direction of a large fortress in the center of the city.  
  
Not far off, Sonic sped down street after street, evading the pursuing SWAT bots when he heard the explosion. Glancing behind him, the SWAT bots were still following so he changed direction and ran straight at the group, completely catching them off guard. As they tried to stop and raise their weapons, the blue blur was already air borne, spinning so rapidly, he became like a buzz saw, his sharp quills slicing the heads of the robots off before they even knew what hit them. Landing on his feet, Sonic continued in that direction as the headless robots slumped to the ground with a dull clank. As soon as Sonic was gone, Kendo emerged from an alleyway nearby. Tracking the hedgehog was a bit more difficult then he originally expected, only the useless piles of metal and circuitry were the only signs that he had even been there. Sniffing the air, he caught the scent of smoke and decided it would be easier to follow rather then Sonic. Unknowingly however, he headed off in the same direction the hedgehog went. Now, all three of them were converging on one place; Robotnik's fortress.  
  
-6-  
  
Knuckles stood in the war room listening to what Tails was saying along with the other Freedom Fighters. They were seated at the large oval shaped table, mostly chattering amongst themselves and shaking their heads in disbelief, while Knuckles remained standing with his large hands on his hips. In their minds, Sonic was playing one of his practical jokes again and Tails was either in on it or was falling for it again. The echidna however, showed little interest and no belief whatsoever in Tails' story. Annoyance was the only expression on the Guardians face. When he had finished, Knuckles closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath, as if trying to calm himself. After a minute, he opened them again and glared at Tails.  
  
"That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he said sternly, "a corpse coming back to life because you spilled some sort of liquid on a coffin." His violet eyes then shifted to Sally and he continued, "This is what you called me for Princess? You actually expect me to believe this?"  
  
"You have to admit Sally-girl, it does sound far-fetched," Bunnie commented.  
  
"Look, I know this might be hard to believe," Sally said, "I don't quite believe it myself. But think about it, if Sonic was trying to play some sort of cruel joke on us, don't you all think he would've sprung it on us by now?"  
  
They had to admit, she did have a point. Sonic had been gone for quite some time now, and if this was all a cruel idea of a joke, he surely would've been in the war room by now with his characteristic smirk plastered all over his face, enjoying their reactions.  
  
"And add to that," Sally continued, after a brief pause, "what reason would Sonic have to go to Robotropolis alone if there was no mission for him to complete?"  
  
"How do we know zee 'edgehog isn't waiting for us somewhere?" Antoine countered. Before Sally could respond, a loud boom sounded off in the direction of Robotropolis, instantly getting everyone's attention.  
  
"See," Tails said, "that's what I'm talking about. It's that thing from the coffin."  
  
Sally sighed and slowly massaged her temples before speaking. "Alright, Tails go and get the Tornado ready. Knuckles and I will come with you." The echidna folded his arms and opened his mouth to refuse when Sally gave him a pleading look, the one thing Knuckles couldn't resist. With a frustrated huff, he said, "Fine."  
  
Deep inside the city, the boom the Freedom Fighters had heard was the sound of a second unit of SWAT bots being annihilated by the wrath of Tyrannus' demonic power. This time, he had allowed the robots to take hold of his arms but the instant that they touched him, he had sent a massive surge of energy through his skin which had filtered through each of the robots. All six machines had exploded simultaneously. The komodo continued walking through the dirty, clutter filled streets until his gaze caught sight of a building that sparked his interest. About three blocks away from him stood the impenetrable fortress of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the self imposed ruler of Mobius. The fortress itself was a massive structure of metal with huge monolithic towers reaching toward the heavens and an array of defense systems that included, motion detectors, infrared cameras and small heat seeking ray guns mounted both inside and outside. Add to that the bevy of SWAT bots and other robots that routinely patrolled the perimeter of the fortress; it truly was an awesome sight to behold. But, even the most sophisticated weaponry always seemed to be inadequate when the doctor was dealing with Sonic the Hedgehog as his super fast speed easily outwitted the robots and sometimes, didn't even register anything on the motion detectors or the infrared. Today they were working perfectly, when the alarm inside the communications center went off, alerting Robotniks nephew Snively to them. The small, meek human rushed to the control panel and switched on a monitor, revealing the figure of Tyrannus slowly making his way toward the entrance. He was about to alert all forces to converge on the intruder when he saw something that stunned him. The lizard raised his clenched fists high over his head, and then slammed them into the ground, sending what looked like red colored shockwaves rifling through the robots and buildings around him. The force of the impact was so great that the vibrations shook the entire fortress and could be heard clearly even in Robotniks office. Now the evil genius' voice thundered into the room.  
  
"What the hell is going on Snively?" he roared.  
  
"I-I-It seems we're under attack sir," Snively answered nervously, "a lizard being sir. He has already disabled the guards."  
  
Before Robotnik responded, Snively watched as the komodos hands suddenly began to glow with the same red energy he had seen in the shockwave. He stretched out his arms and the energy erupted from his fingertips, engulfing the entire fortress, shaking it from top to bottom as if in an earthquake and knocking out every sensor, defense and communication. They were completely vulnerable. Who or what is this thing, Snively thought as he struggled to regain control of the defense systems, a new Freedom Fighter? This was unlike anything he and his uncle had seen or faced before, they now had no defense against him. And were there other Freedom Fighters with him? Sweat rolled down Snivelys face in rivers as he frantically worked to restore power. Suddenly, the door at the entrance of the communications room exploded, shattering to pieces and throwing Snively off his chair. He picked himself up, rubbing his head from being struck with a piece of metal from the door and found himself staring up at the very lizard that had caused this commotion. All the blood drained from his face and he went completely pale, trembling with fear. The Komodo dragon stood nearly as tall as his uncle, was quite muscular and a set of black, pupil less eyes that seemed to burn holes in the small humans head. A leathery hand seized him by the throat and lifted him to face level with the lizard.  
  
"Who is your leader?" he growled, as Snively gasped and choked for air.  
  
"Dr. R-R-Robotnik," Snively gasped, struggling vainly to get loose, "please, don't.kill.me"  
  
Tyrannus flicked out his forked tongue, tasting Snively's fear and smiled wickedly. "Take me to him," he sneered, "and you will not be harmed." Snively, with his oxygen depleting, quickly agreed.  
  
In his office, Robotnik pounded the desk with his fist angrily. He had tried to raise Snively on the communicator with no response. Where is that pathetic shit, he thought, when I find him, he'll regret the day he was even born. He reached over to press the button on his communicator again when he heard a strange sound outside his door. It sounded like Snively choking, as if trying to scream. He rose from his chair and started to make his way toward the door when it was smashed off its hinges and a limp body thudded to the floor. To Robotniks horror, it was Snively, his body was badly mutilated with deep gashes in his chest and abdomen, his left eye gouged out and from the amount of blood that was pooling on the floor around him, his throat had been torn out. Looking up from his nephews body, he saw the perpetrator; a large komodo dragon, licking the tips of his claws which were covered in blood, along with the corners of his mouth. He licked the last claw and slowly turned his head to Robotnik who was mute with fright.  
  
"Delicious," he sneered with sick smile. He began walking into the office, the smile vanishing from his features. "You are Robotnik?"  
  
"Dr. Robotnik," the genius responded, as he tried to sound like he was unafraid of the komodo even though he really was, "and who might I ask are you?"  
  
"I am Tyrannus," the komodo answered, "and I am here to reclaim what is rightfully mine." He reached behind his right shoulder and unsheathed the kirehashi blade, aiming it at Robotnik.  
  
"Unlikely reptile," the doctor snarled. He turned and hurried back to his desk reached inside and produced a pistol. Without a moments pause, he began firing. Tyrannus simply began to laugh as the bullets harmlessly bounced off without leaving as much as a scratch. After five or six shots, he dodged to the side and slashed at Robotnik, slicing the evil genius' hand with the pistol cleanly off. Robotnik screamed and clutched at the stump of his head, blood spurting out between his fingers. He began to run toward the door as fast as his chubby legs could carry him but the komodo cut him off, pointing his bloodied sword at his throat and forcing him back. The speed with which he cut Robotnik off surprised the doctor and frightened him all the more, this thing was as fast as the hedgehog, possibly faster. Again, Robotnik turned to run, but Tyrannus made sure he didn't get far by slashing him across the back, forcing the doctor to his knees. He was weakening fast, blood now pouring from the stump of his right hand and the inch deep gash on his back. He tried to crawl away, only to stop when the komodos blade touched the side of his throat. Tyrannus slowly circled around to face Robotnik who sat on his knees, growing paler from blood loss. Without a word, he slashed the evil genius again, this time across his chest but Robotnik barely made a sound as he slumped to the floor. He couldn't feel anything anymore; the pain had subsided into bliss. He hardly felt Tyrannus dragging him across the floor toward the large window behind his desk. There, the demonic lizard stood him on his feet with his back to the glass.  
  
"Farewell, Robotnik," Tyrannus said evilly. He quickly spun completely around, swinging his sword as he went, slicing the doctor's head cleanly off, kicked the body out through the window and caught the decapitated head by the hair all in one move. He laughed quietly to himself as he watched the rotund corpse of Dr. Robotnik plummet to the ground like a stone. Finally, after 300 years he was back in his rightful place. This city didn't seem like the sort of place to house the true ruler of Mobius but it would have to do for now. Suddenly, a movement caught his eye, interrupting his victory. A dust trail was heading toward the fortress at amazing speed. It must be that hedgehog, he thought with a quiet growl, watching the trail grow closer. How foolish, brave but foolish.  
  
Sonic zigzagged his way through the narrow streets, homing in on Robotniks lair like a missile. He would've been there sooner but thanks to all these damn robots lurking around, he had to stop here and there to take care of them. As he reached the fortress, he skidded to a stop when he came to what looked like the sight of a bombing, for there was a large crater in the ground and he could see the damage caused by the devastating shockwave. But as he turned his head to his right, he got the shock of a lifetime for there on the ground, twisted and broken, was the headless corpse of Robotnik. By the look of him, whatever had done this knew what he was doing. But as he came closer to examine the body, he was blown back by a red fireball that seemed to fall from the summit of the fortress. As the hedgehog cleared his senses, and peered through the dust, he was faced by the komodo that he had seen in the tomb only he was holding the decapitated head of his enemy.  
  
"Impressed hedgehog?" he asked, smiling insanely.  
  
"Hardly," Sonic retorted, "I don't care what you did to Robuttnik. I've got some unfinished business with you."  
  
"Very well," Tyrannus snarled, the look of intense hatred returning to his face. He tossed the head aside and went into a fighting stance. His lifeless eyes stared into Sonics as he said, "Prepare to meet your end." Sonic went into his fighting stance and braced himself. He was in for the fight of his life.  
  
-7-  
  
For several tense moments, the hedgehog and the Komodo dragon slowly began to circle each other, each waiting for the other to strike the first. It was Tyrannus who attacked first, lunging at Sonic and firing off several punches toward the hedgehogs head to which Sonic quickly dodged. The komodo then struck with a spinning sweep kick to which Sonic leaped into the air flying over his opponents head so he landed behind him, but Tyrannus was already turned around to face Sonic by the time the hedgehog landed. Seeing the lizard still crouched down and slowly getting to his feet, Sonic saw his chance and rushed in with a flying kick. However, he got nothing but air for as soon as his foot was about to impact Tyrannus' chest, the komodo disappeared; only to reappear after Sonic had gone by. Again, Sonic attacked to the same result; before he could hit Tyrannus, he would vanish and reappear either in the same spot after Sonic had already gone by or behind him.  
  
"What's the matter big man?" Sonic demanded, "Afraid to fight?"  
  
In response, Tyrannus let out a loud hiss and lowered his stance as if he were about to charge straight through the hedgehog like a battering ram. Taking a quick peek around, Sonic knew that as long as they remained here, Tyrannus would have the upper hand; there was no room for Sonic to launch his speed attacks or use Chaos Control. It was then that he realized in all this confusion, he had forgotten to bring a Chaos Emerald with him. But there was no time to fret about that now, he needed to find a place with more room.  
  
"You want a piece of me," he said, flashing his smirk, "come and get me!"  
  
He turned and raced off at full speed down the narrow street, hoping that this would at least allow him to get a better vantage point so he could find a way to beat this freak. Taking a glance behind him, Sonic figured that the komodo would be left eating his dust but what he saw shocked him. Tyrannus was racing along behind him at exactly the same speed. His body was encased in a light red orb and his feet were hovering just above the ground. He reminded Sonic of what he looked like when he had gone super. Looking ahead again, Sonic saw a sharp turn in the road and grinned. That freak was obviously fast going straight ahead, but probably couldn't handle some sharp turns. As they neared the turn, Tyrannus suddenly increased his speed so now; he was coming up behind Sonic and coming up fast. Thankfully they reached the turn which Sonic shot around masterfully. The lizard however, turned at the same moment Sonic turned which took him directly toward the side of an old concrete building. It didn't slow him down at all as he crashed right through it and kept right up with the blue blur. As the street ahead of them began to widen out, Sonic decided it was time to end this. He waited until Tyrannus was along side of him, then veered sharply to his right, intending to body check the lizard and knock him off balance. Tyrannus however, dropped back as Sonic veered over, and then increased his speed again, slamming into Sonics side, sending him flying to the left. The hedgehog quickly rolled into his protective ball to avoid getting hurt. He bounced off a brick wall and rolled back into the street where he vaulted to his feet. Turning around, he saw the komodo had stopped and was standing in the center of the street, waiting.  
  
"OK buddy," Sonic said angrily, as he walked toward Tyrannus, "no more screwing around. Let's do this!"  
  
A small grin spread across the lizards face; this was exactly what he wanted to hear. He waited until Sonic was close enough, grabbed his twin daggers from the sides of his belt and flung them both at the hedgehog, one higher then the other. Moving quickly, Sonic caught both daggers out of the air and smirked.  
  
"Nice try," Sonic taunted, waving the daggers from side to side, "but, no dice."  
  
He was about to throw them back when he heard a sizzling sound. Looking at the daggers in his hands, he realized smoke was rising from around his fingers. The strange thing was; it didn't feel as if his hands were burning at all. It was as if he were holding two pieces of dried ice. Amazed, Sonic watched as the smoking daggers suddenly turned to dust and crumbled in his hands. This was the opening Tyrannus needed as he lunged at Sonic while he was distracted, and hit him with a powerful uppercut that flipped the hedgehog completely over and sent him crashing to the ground. Jumping to his feet enraged, Sonic threw himself at the komodo. This time however, Tyrannus suddenly stretched out his right hand, sending bolts of energy rippling through the hedgehog's body and throwing him back against a nearby lamppost, bending it completely over. Not giving his opponent, time to recover, Tyrannus moved in, kicking Sonic in the ribs, sending him tumbling head over tail back into the street. Lifting his head, Sonic saw Tyrannus coming and acted quickly, scoring with an uppercut of his own, even though he didn't have very much power behind it. The punch merely knocked the lizard back a few steps, which allowed Sonic to try and clear the cobwebs. The next thing Sonic knew, he was being lifted into the air by some invisible force and hurled across the street into the side of a building, leaving a deep indent of himself in the metal. It then pulled him back out of the indent, raised him higher and slammed him down on the sideway viciously. Sonic struggled to get to his feet, wiping the blood from his nostrils. Tyrannus' face was a mask of unnatural hate as he raised his hands toward the metal side of the building behind Sonic and with a downward jerk, the whole side of the building came crashing down. Only Sonics speed prevented him from being crushed. He was then hit repeatedly by scores of flying debris, from rocks to parts of robots to pieces of glass; all being commanded by Tyrannus.  
  
From high above the city in the Tornado, Sally, Tails and Knuckles heard the commotion and were shocked by the scene below them. Sonic was being decimated by a hail of debris that seemed to thrown at him by a large lizard who was standing completely still.  
  
"That's him," Tails shouted, pointing toward the reptile, "that's who I've been telling you about!"  
  
"Land on that rooftop," Knuckles ordered, "and be quick about it before there's nothing left of Sonic!"  
  
Skillfully, Tails swung the plane around and landed on the rooftop of a building next to the one that Tyrannus had pulled apart. Jumping out of the cockpit, Tails joined Sally and Knuckles on the edge. They had to do something fast, Sonic couldn't stand an onslaught like this much longer.  
  
"I'm going," Knuckles said, climbing to the edge. Before Sally or Tails could say anything to stop him, the echidna launched himself off the edge and glided down toward the battle below.  
  
Sonic slumped to his hands and knees after Tyrannus abruptly halted the ferocious assault. His body was battered and bloody, with cuts and scratches all over, blood running from his nose and mouth but his pride wouldn't allow him to give up yet. Calling up the last of his strength, he crawled toward the komodo, daring him to continue. Tyrannus merely laughed.  
  
"Foolish hedgehog," he snarled as he easily pushed Sonic onto his back with his foot, "did you really believe you could defeat me? I am invincible!"  
  
"HEY!!" a shout roared from above. Tyrannus glanced upward just in time to see Knuckles diving straight toward him, fists outstretched. He punched Tyrannus squarely in the face, knocking him away from Sonic. As the komodo stumbled back, again without a scratch, Knuckles landed between him and his friend, geared up for a fight. Tyrannus glared at Knuckles then grinned.  
  
"Another challenger," he sneered, "good."  
  
"Knux.don't," Sonic managed to say before slipping into unconsciousness. But his voice was so weak; the echidna hardly heard his warning and prepared to launch himself at Tyrannus.  
  
But as the two were about to face off, a blast of white energy suddenly streaked out from an alleyway nearby, striking Tyrannus in the chest and sending him flying backwards into a pile of discarded robots. Turning, Knuckles and Sonic saw a black panther hurrying out of the alley, never taking his eyes off the motionless komodo.  
  
"Who the hell." Knuckles started to say before Kendo cut him off.  
  
"I'll explain later," he said as he started to drag Sonic away, "help me with Sonic. That blast won't keep him down long."  
  
Each taking an arm, they dragged Sonic out of harms way while Sally guided Tails in for a landing in the Tornado. Loading the wounded hedgehog into the copilot's seat, Sally held onto the struts on the left wing while Knuckles and Kendo stayed on the right. The fox revved up the planes engine and took off just as Tyrannus rose to his feet, catching a glimpse of Kendos face as they flew away. The komodo growled in rage. So, the descendent of his jailer lives. No matter where they ran to, he vowed he would find him and that hedgehog and finish what he began.  
  
-8-  
  
Sonic slowly opened his eyes. It was night and he was by a warm, roaring fire. Where exactly he was, he had no clue; all he knew was that every inch of his body felt like it weighed a ton. His eyes wandered around for a moment; Tails was sitting by the other side of the fire, prodding at it with a stick, he smiled when he saw his friend awake, then he noticed Sally sitting next to him, a look of relief in her eyes.  
  
"Hey Sal," he said quietly, with a weak smile.  
  
"Hey," she said, holding his hand gently, and wiping away a tear.  
  
"What happened?" Sonic asked, "The last thing I remember is that freak pulling some sort of magic stunt on me."  
  
"His name is Tyrannus," Sally answered, "I don't know how he was able to do what he did, but he was beating you around pretty good. If it wasn't for Kendo and Knuckles, he would've killed you."  
  
"No way," Sonic said, trying to muster up a smirk, "he'd have to do a lot more then what he did to take me out." He gave an amused huff but winced afterward. His body hurt too much to laugh. Sally smiled and gently kissed him on the forehead.  
  
"How're you feeling hedgehog?" Knuckles asked with a slight smirk as he came over to the fire where Sonic was laying.  
  
"How do you think I feel Knucklehead?" Sonic countered sarcastically, finally mustering a smirk. Knuckles grin widened. "Like shit," he responded, "couldn't have kicked the crap out of you better if I did it myself."  
  
"Yeah right," Sonic snorted. He paused for a moment then said quietly, "Thanks." Knuckles chuckled quietly and nodded his head.  
  
Kendo soon came out of his hut a few minutes later, with a cup filled with a dark colored liquid, a small bundle, and a concerned look on his face. He knew there was only one way to destroy Tyrannus forever but he didn't know if Sonic could handle it. The dark emerald was now useless; Tyrannus had taken all of the energy it had, reducing it to stone. Now, they had only one option left; to make Sonic like Tyrannus. And that was exactly what concerned him; Sonic was strong willed but the powers of the underworld had a way of changing someone for the worse no matter how strong they were. But they were backed against a wall now; there was no other way, he couldn't do it, his body couldn't take the pain of the possession. Tails was definitely out, he was too young. The echidna wasn't a good candidate either, he had too much anger inside, the powers would control him easily and Sally, like him, could not survive the possession. Sonic was the only one that could do it. At least, he hoped he could.  
  
"What's the long face for?" Sonic asked as Kendo knelt down beside him.  
  
"Tyrannus has become too powerful for you to handle," he said grimly, "we cannot use the dark emerald in the tomb either; he has drained all its energy."  
  
"What about a Chaos Emerald," Tails asked, "wouldn't its power work?"  
  
"No," the panther answered, "Chaos energy would have no effect on him."  
  
"So how do we handle this?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"There is only one other way," Kendo said after a brief pause, "to defeat him, you must.become him." A look of concern spread across everyone's face.  
  
"Say what?" Sonic asked, ignoring another bolt of pain, "You mean, you're going to change me into his twin?"  
  
"Not exactly," Kendo answered, "I can cast a spell that would grant you the same powers as he has. With them, you would be able to withstand his attacks and have a greater chance of destroying him."  
  
"Are you sure that's the only way?" Sally asked, "Isn't there something else you could do?"  
  
The panther shook his head. Sally looked down at Sonic who also had a worried look. Becoming like that freak was not what he had in mind. But now, they were backed into a corner, all the Chaos energy in the world wouldn't even faze him, and anything they tried would be useless. Taking a deep breath, Sonic finally spoke, "Do it."  
  
"Sonic no," Sally said, "there has to be another way."  
  
"There isn't any other way Princess," Kendo said, "its either we do this, or we are all doomed."  
  
"Trust me Sal," Sonic said, holding the princess' hand gently.  
  
"You know I hate it when you say that," Sally said, squeezing back. She got up and stood beside Knuckles and Tails to give Kendo the room he needed. As he got ready, Sonic became nervous.  
  
"You sure you know what you're doing?" he asked. Kendo just gave him a look that told him to be quiet. Sonic shut up instantly. He handed the hedgehog the cup and told him to drink the liquid; it tasted terrible but he did. Closing his eyes, Kendo held his paws out, palms down over Sonics head and chest and began reciting the words of the ancient spell while Sonic nervously glanced at his friends. There was no turning back now.  
  
The liquid in the cup soon began to take effect as Sonic closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep. The panther continued to speak in the ancient language that Tyrannus had used to summon the energy from the emerald. Sally nervously held Knuckles' hand as she watched. Suddenly, Sonic violently jerked, his face contorted into a mask of pain and he began to twist about on the ground, grunting as if he were being attacked. Kendo opened his eyes and concentrated on the spell. Sonics twisting soon turned into mad thrashing from side to side and his grunts became screams of pain. Tails shut his eyes and covered his ears, he couldn't stand the noise. Sally pulled him into her and held him tightly with one arm while gripping Knuckles' hand tighter. The echidna also tightened his grip on Sally's hand; this was something none of them had ever seen before. Sonics breathing became harder and harder, his screams changing again into demonic roars. The powers of the underworld were taking hold within his soul and working their magic, as every cut and scratch on Sonics body healed instantly. As his friends watched, Sonics thrashing became wilder, his claws unsheathed and he gritted his teeth, as if trying to prevent his body from exploding. Finally, his eyes flew open and to Sally's shock, his emerald green eyes began to grow darker until they became empty black voids like Tyrannus' were. Just after that, Kendo pulled his paws away from Sonics body and instantly, everything stopped, Sonics eyes closed and he sagged back to the ground.  
  
Immediately, Sonics friends rushed to see if he was alright. He seemed to be unconscious, so Sally felt the side of his neck for a pulse. The pulse was not there.  
  
"He doesn't have a pulse," she said to Kendo, but the panther didn't seem concerned.  
  
"Be patient Princess," Kendo said quietly.  
  
As they waited, Sonic suddenly took a deep breath and his eyes opened as if he had just woken up from a dream. Relieved, Sally hugged him. But as he hugged her back, she could tell that something was different. Looking into his eyes, she saw they were still green but now, they had a darker shade to them.  
  
"It's alright Sal," Sonic said with a small smile, "it's still me."  
  
"Are you OK Sonic?" Tails asked.  
  
"Yeah little bro, I'm fine," Sonic answered, sitting up, "in fact I.I've never felt better. I feel like I've gone super but, I'm still normal."  
  
"The powers of the underworld have changed you Sonic," Kendo said, "you're faster and stronger then you were before."  
  
"This is awesome," Sonic cried, getting to his feet, "hey, even my wounds are healed." He was elated but Kendo still had a concerned look.  
  
"Sonic, you must listen," he said, "you may seem like you're in control now but you must be wary. These powers have a way of changing you. They feed on anger and, in your case, your ego. They may try to trick you into using them to even greater degrees. You must purge yourself of these powers once Tyrannus is destroyed. If you don't, they will consume your soul and you will remain like this forever."  
  
"How do we do that?" Knuckles asked.  
  
"With this," Kendo answered, producing and handing Sally a glass cylinder, "this antidote will drive the powers from Sonics body. He must drink it after Tyrannus is dead." Once Sally had the cylinder, Kendo opened the bundle to reveal a large dagger made of pure gold. "This golden dagger is the only weapon that can kill him," he continued, "You must drive it directly into his heart. And princess," he leaned close to Sally, "I know you do not want to hear this but, if Sonic does not take the antidote, you will have to kill him as well."  
  
"Kill him?" Sally asked her voice dropping to a whisper.  
  
"Yes," Kendo answered in a level voice, "it's the only way these powers can be destroyed other than the antidote. I pray that it doesn't come to that."  
  
Sally nervously looked at Sonic who was still marveling about his new powers, then turned back to Kendo and whispered, "So do I."  
  
Rising to their feet, Kendo told Sally to return to Knothole and try to rest. "There is a tough and dangerous battle ahead. You all will need your strength to survive." He turned and began to walk back toward his hut. Knuckles, standing on the opposite side of the fire, closely watching Sonic test his new abilities came after him. There was something he had to get off his mind. He had heard Kendo tell them about his duty to guard the emerald and Tyrannus' corpse; it was a similar duty as his, passed down through the generations of his family. But looking at the panthers face when he removed that hood, he appeared to be no older then the Guardian or Sonic. Where was his family or any of his people? Before Kendo stepped inside the door, Knuckles grabbed his arm and stopped him.  
  
"There's something I still don't get," he said, "why haven't we seen anyone else like you? What happened to your people?"  
  
Kendo paused a moment before he spoke, "My people were eradicated by a deadly plague," he said with a look of regret, "no one knew where it had come from. It struck one day while I was away and by the time I returned, everyone in the village was dead. That's when I saw the glowing orb in the entrance of the tomb. Before I could reach it, it returned to the dark emerald and the emerald became like stone. As I stood in the doorway of that room, I could hear Tyrannus laughing. So I placed a freezing spell on the emerald, sealing off its powers."  
  
"Hey Knux, are you coming or what?" Sonic called out. "Go," the panther said, stepping inside his hut, "you will need your strength."  
  
-9-  
  
The following day, Sonic and the others returned to the ruins in the hopes that they would have Kendos help in finding and destroying Tyrannus. But as they approached the edge of the ruins, Tails noticed smoke in the air; black smoke. He flew higher into the air and saw that the smoke was coming from Kendos hut, which now lay in a heap of rubble.  
  
"Guys," he called out, "Kendos hut's been attacked!"  
  
Without a second thought, Sonic, still holding Sally in his arms, sped off ahead, followed closely by Knuckles and Tails, heading for the panthers ruined hut. Putting her down, the hedgehog quickly began digging through the rubble and was joined by Knuckles. The two tossed aside the heavy stones and the wooden beams until finally; they found Kendos bloody and battered body lying in amongst the stones. Thankfully he was still breathing but only barely. Gently, they pulled him out from the rubble and laid him on the ground nearby. Weakly, he opened his eyes.  
  
"What happened?" the hedgehog asked.  
  
"Tyrannus attacked shortly after you left," Kendo answered weakly; "I could not stop him."  
  
"Hang on," Sally said, "we'll get you back to Knothole a.s.a.p."  
  
But the panther shook his head slowly. He was beyond anyone's help now. He stopped Sally's hand as she was about to administer some first aid and the look in his eyes told the princess her efforts would be futile. He turned his head to Sonic, trying to look as stern as he could, despite the fact he could feel death consuming him.  
  
"Sonic," he said, his voice was starting to fade, "you and your friends must go. There is nothing you can do for me."  
  
"We need your help," Sonic insisted, "how will we be able to find Tyrannus without you?"  
  
"You will know," the panther now whispered, his strength fading fast, "you will either find him..or he will find you."  
  
"What the hell does that mean?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
"Go." Kendo whispered. He took one final breath, slowly exhaled and his hand slowly slid off of Sally's falling to his side again. His yellow eyes seemed to lose the faint glow that Sonic and Tails had seen that day in the tomb, now they held the cold darkness of death. Sonic gently placed the panther's hands on his stomach and closed his eyes for the final time. Taking some stones from the rubble of his hut, he and Knuckles buried their friend, propping up his staff in the top of the stone pile and draping his torn, hooded cloak over it as a marker.  
  
"So long buddy," the blue blur said as he stepped back from the makeshift grave. He turned and walked away, with the others following. Even though none of them had known Kendo for long, they still felt saddened by his death. It was as if they had lost one of their own. They had not walked far when suddenly, Sonic stopped in mid stride, his eyes squeezed shut and he pressed his hand to his head, as if suffering from a splitting headache. He almost toppled over before Knuckles and Tails caught him  
  
"You OK?" Tails asked.  
  
"It's him," Sonic answered, his eyes opening again and growing slightly darker, "Tyrannus. He's in Robotropolis, I can feel it. Come on." Picking up Sally in his arms, he took off at full speed toward the city, Knuckles and Tails not far behind. As they raced through the forest, the echidna watched Sonic intently. He had seen the hedgehogs eyes darken and it had concerned him. He remembered Kendos warning; these powers had a way of changing someone. Judging by the way Sonic was running and the look on his face beforehand, Knuckles had a bad feeling that told him the powers had begun to take control of Sonic. Their only hope now was to try and keep Sonic under control, if at all possible, don't let him get too riled up or the demonic energy flowing through him would consume his soul forever.  
  
In the city, Tyrannus stood atop a large building, arms folded and eyes closed, waiting for the hedgehog. He was the one who had made Sonic aware of him, he could sense the moment when Sonic gained the same powers as he did and he had followed the trail to Kendos hut. The panther had given him quite a worthy battle but the komodo had been too much for him to handle. Now, he knew Sonic was equal to him in power and it had filled him with a fury far greater then before. The hedgehog had no right in stealing what Tyrannus considered his, so he sent a telepathic message to him, challenging him to meet the lizard in Robotropolis in a battle to the death. He knew Sonic could not control his temper very well, he had seen that in their first encounter, and that was the reason Tyrannus had issued the challenge. He was betting there was a strong possibility that the blue blur would lose control early on and wouldn't be able to utilize his powers effectively enough, which would ultimately spell his doom. Sensing Sonics rapid approach, Tyrannus opened his eyes, flicked his forked tongue and smiled.  
  
Racing through the city, Sonic could still hear Tyrannus' taunting voice echoing in his mind and he followed it like a beacon. Cradled in his arms, Sally glanced up at Sonics face and saw a look that sent shivers down her spine. The hedgehogs face was like a stone with a glare of anger rippling in his eyes, which seemed to be darkening more and more as they drew closer to the point where the komodo was waiting. The telepathic beacon seemed to grow stronger as they got closer. Reaching a huge building near Robotniks former fortress, Sonic sped up again and raced up the side of the building, with Sally slightly tightening her grip around his neck. Tails flew up the side, lifting Knuckles up with him. Reaching the roof, Sonic screeched to a halt and gently set the princess down. Tyrannus stood in the center of the roof with a sneering smirk upon his face which grew into a smile as he watched Tails and Knuckles join Sonic and Sally near the edge.  
  
"Four against one?" the demon lizard taunted, "that's not fair. You're going to need more help."  
  
"You're the one who's going to need help," Knuckles growled as he moved forward.  
  
"Knux," Sonic said in a serious tone, placing his hand on the echidna's shoulder, "back off. He's mine." For a second, Knuckles threw him a deadly look, furious that the hedgehog stopped him, but when he noticed the look on Sonics face, he backed away, albeit reluctantly. It was a stony, death like stare, colder then anything he had ever seen from Sonic. That look only increased the worry Knuckles felt about Sonic being able to control his new abilities. It seemed that those powers had begun to weave their twisted web, slowly starting to take over Sonics soul. Knuckles could only hope his friend could hold out.  
  
"Payback time scaly," Sonic growled as he moved toward the smirking lizard. In a split second movement, Sonic now attacked first, launching himself in his protective ball, uncurling in Tyrannus' face and blasting him with rock hard punches. Totally forgetting how strong the hedgehog now was, and completely caught off guard, the komodo stumbled back and fell.  
  
"Impressive," Tyrannus hissed as he rose to his feet, rubbing his chin, "very impressive." He suddenly rocketed at the hedgehog, giving Sonic no time to move and smashed him with a flying kick, sending his foe flying across the rooftop and into the brick side of the electrical control centre, almost caving in the wall. "But you're still no match for me!"  
  
Forgetting Sonics warning, Knuckles and Tails charged at the komodo again trying to catch him off guard. Tyrannus leaped into the air, dodging Tails and vaulting over Knuckles' head. Upon landing, he swept away another of the echidnas blows, grabbed onto his wrist which pulled him off balance and taking hold of the back of his neck, threw him with tremendous force over the side of the building. Thinking quickly, the Guardian righted himself and glided to the side of the building across the street, using the sharp claws on his fists to cling to the metal. Pushing off with all his strength, he easily glided back to the first building and, sinking his claws into the metal, began scaling the building as quickly as he could. As soon as he had seen Knuckles thrown off the side of the building, Tails quickly dived down sharply toward Tyrannus' back. The komodo however turned to face him, his lifeless eyes glaring into the fox's and suddenly, Tails found himself suspended helplessly in midair then thrown backward into the large antenna that stood upon the roof of the electrical control centre. The antenna itself seemed to come alive as Tails struck it, wrapping itself tightly around his body like a boa constrictor capturing a rat.  
  
With Sonic still trying to clear the cobwebs from the crushing impact with the brick wall, Knuckles busy climbing back up nearly from ground level and Tails entangled in the antenna, Tyrannus turned to Princess Sally. She had been attempting to get a clear shot with the golden dagger which she held tightly in her right hand. Her hopes that their numbers could overwhelm the demon had come to nothing and now, he had disposed of her distraction and had her in his demonic crosshairs. Undaunted, Sally waited for the right moment to strike as the komodo strode towards her, an evil smirk on his face. He suddenly stopped and held his hands out to his sides slightly, tensing his fingers then clenched them into fists. His fists seemed to burn with energy and he quickly brought them together, focusing the blast into one solid beam that Sally barely dodged. He then began firing smaller balls of energy at her, in a similar fashion as throwing an unlimited supply of baseballs. The princess continually moved from side to side, ducking and evading each one until finally, she dove out of the way of the final one and found herself almost in the face of Tyrannus. He quickly threw a punch at her head but she blocked it and retaliated with a strong elbow strike to his jaw followed by a spinning back fist. The komodo stumbled back as Sally continued, scoring with a straight thrust kick to the chin, almost toppling the monster. Now seeing her chance, Sally raised her hand with the gold dagger in it and prepared to drive it through the creature's heart. As the blade of the dagger came down, Tyrannus suddenly caught the princess' wrist with his left hand and seized her throat with the other. Lifting her into the air by the throat, he decided to show her the penalty for meddling. In an instant, Sally felt the raw power of Tyrannus surging through her body which made her scream in agony. It felt as if she were being electrocuted. Seconds later, Sonic, rolled into an energy-rippling ball, slammed into Tyrannus from the side, forcing him to drop the princess. The tyrant crashed to the rooftop in a heap. As Sonic moved in, Knuckles hauled himself back over the edge of the roof. The first thing he noticed was Sally half lying on her side and he rushed to see if she was alright.  
  
"I'm fine," she had told him. Then, the Guardian noticed Sonic, hammering on Tyrannus with a vengeance. He punched, kicked and now, was using the same blasts of energy on the lizard, bashing him from pillar to post. This was just the thing that Knuckles had been afraid of; the powers of the underworld had taken control of his friend, changing him into a rampaging monster. Even though he was taking a tremendous amount of punishment, Tyrannus was still dishing it out, assaulting Sonic with an equal amount of ferocity. Now, they were locked in a test of strength and will, their fingers locked, teeth gritted with the rippling bands of energy flowing over their bodies and crackling like lightning. Finally the powers of both beings let out a large explosion, separating the two.  
  
"Here Sonic," Sally called out, tossing the gold dagger toward him, "catch!" Sonic caught the dagger and rose to his feet. Tyrannus was also up and had drawn his sword.  
  
"It ends now hedgehog," he snarled viciously.  
  
Tyrannus charged toward Sonic at full speed and leaped into the air, his sword raised high above his head. Sonic waited until the demonic lizard started to descend then he leaped up at him, caught his opponents wrists as they were coming down, and drove the gold dagger deep into his heart. With their powers suspending them in mid air, Tyrannus' face, for the first time, showed surprise. He looked down at his chest and saw the dagger there with Sonics hand tightly gripping the handle. The kirehashi blade slipped from the komodos grip, smashing like glass on the roof of the building and small bursts of energy erupted from his body as if he were in a self destruct mode. The bursts soon became stronger and more violent as Tyrannus, with the last of his strength, gripped Sonics head with both hands as though trying to crush the hedgehog's skull. His own body began to shake violently as his powers strained to break free. Tyrannus let out a horrible scream, the same one that he had done when Sonic and Tails had accidentally freed him before his entire body shone a brilliant white and exploded.  
  
-10-  
  
The force of the explosion blew Knuckles and Sally across the rooftop, banging into the same wall that Sonic had. As for the hedgehog, he was slammed back first down into the roof of the building, making a small indent where he originally hit, then flipped over and ended up lying face down. Getting up with Knuckles' help, Sally ran to his side, just as he was starting to pull himself up.  
  
"Sonic," she cried as she helped him to stand, "are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Sonic answered his eyes still shut tightly, "just have one major headache."  
  
"You'll feel better when you drink this," Sally told him producing the antidote from a pocket in her vest, "once those powers are gone, you'll be back to your old self again."  
  
Sonic took the glass cylinder in his hand and rubbed the back of his head. Knuckles walked over to him, his face an expressionless mask. Something was wrong, he thought, Sonic knew he had to take that antidote as soon as Tyrannus was destroyed. Now he's hesitating, its like, he doesn't want to take it for some reason.  
  
"Drink it Sonic," the echidna said in a level voice, "we'll all feel better when you do."  
  
Sonic paused. "Hang on a sec, would ya Red?" he said irritably, "let me get my bearings first. I just got spiked like a football you know." That statement simply convinced the Guardian that Sonic was not in control of himself. Normally, when he was asked to do something as important as this, he would have it finished before he or Sally would have the words out of their mouths. Now he says hang on a sec? That wasn't the Sonic he knew.  
  
"Come on hedgehog," Knuckles said, making his voice as irritable as Sonics, "drink it already. We don't have all day."  
  
This was a test. If Sonic got irritated back and drank that antidote, then Knuckles would be certain those powers hadn't gotten a firm grip on him. The response he got was not what he had hoped for. Once again, the blue blur paused and it seemed to Knuckles that his fears were coming true. There was only one other thing left to try.  
  
"Sonic," he growled, grabbing Sonics chin and lifting his head up so he faced him, "either you drink it, or I'll shove the whole thing down your throat." Sally started to admonish the Guardian for his actions but, she stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. It wasn't the genuine dislike for Sonic that was there usually, now it was a look of concern, almost fear. She knew that Knuckles had a way of knowing when something wasn't right; it was like a sixth sense and now, he knew something was definitely wrong with Sonic. His fears did come true as Sonic opened his eyes to reveal not the clear, emerald green gaze, but a black, lifeless glare. A smile adorned his face and he began to laugh evilly. This laugh clearly was not his own, it was Tyrannus' voice coming out of Sonics body. He slapped away Knuckles' hand, shoved the Guardian and the princess away and with a smirk, crushed the cylinder in his hand.  
  
"What's happened to him?" Sally asked, "those powers couldn't have taken control that fast."  
  
"They didn't," Knuckles said, rising to his feet, "Tyrannus did. He must have transferred his life essence to Sonic when he stabbed him with the dagger."  
  
"Correct Guardian," Tyrannus' voice growled from Sonics mouth, "Sonics soul is now mine."  
  
Even though he didn't want to have to kill his friend, Knuckles knew that there was no other choice now. Sonic was gone, and all that remained was a shell that that freak had stolen. He quickly rushed for the gold dagger that had landed on the rooftop a few steps away from Sonic. Using his new body's speed, Tyrannus beat him to the weapon and sent the Guardian tumbling away with a powerful kick. He then picked up the dagger.  
  
"You won't need this anymore," he sneered. Taking the knife in both hands, Tyrannus snapped the blade off the handle with ease and tossed the pieces aside. Knuckles quickly flung himself at the possessed hedgehog, tackling him. They rolled over and over almost flying off the edge before Tyrannus suddenly channeled his demonic energy through Sonics hide, throwing Knuckles off him. The Guardian landed hard, his body twitching from the amount of energy that had shot through him. Displaying the toughness that had won him Sonics respect many times, Knuckles hauled himself up and, even though a bit wobbly came back for more. The possessed hedgehog grinned evilly, amused by the echidnas heart and courage. He charged him again, landing a crushing uppercut, similar to Sonics peel-out attack that nearly knocked Knuckles out cold. Still the echidna tried to get up. Becoming frustrated, Tyrannus held out his hands, sending punishing bolts of energy rippling through Knuckles prone form. The Guardian gritted his teeth and tried to resist but it was useless, the demons power was too strong. Not being able to stand this any longer, Sally tackled the demon, forcing him away from Knuckles, who slumped against the wall of the control centre, nearly unconscious.  
  
Using her own momentum against her, Tyrannus tumbled over with Sally holding on and finally gripped her head and flung her away from him. Sally tumbled further, hitting her head against the knee high ledge, dazing her. Rising to his feet, Tyrannus seethed with fury.  
  
"Now you shall die!" he shouted, and clenched his fists, forming the solid red ball of energy. Sally could do nothing but close her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.  
  
As Tyrannus was bringing his fists together, his hands suddenly stopped and his fingers unclenched, releasing the energy. Try as he might, he could not force them back, nor could he summon more. His eyes squeezed shut as his head turning slightly to the right and when they opened, they were their clear emerald shade again.  
  
"Keep.your.hands.off her!" Sonics voice shouted. Sally's face lit up. Sonic was still there, his soul was fighting to regain his body. She could only hope now that he was strong enough to overcome Tyrannus' influence.  
  
"Foolish hedgehog," Tyrannus' voice roared as the emerald color returned to black, "you can't stop me!"  
  
"Oh yeah?" Sonics voice shouted back, "Watch me!"  
  
Sonics eyes were squeezed shut as tight as they could go as the two beings fought mercilessly for control of one body. Whenever Tyrannus tried to summon more of his power, Sonic would not allow him to tense his fingers or clench his fists. Likewise, when Sonic tried to bring his hands up to try and force the demon out, Tyrannus would jerk his head away or force his hands back down. But it was clear the tyrant was weakening. His left eye was still the black void, but his right eye was clearing and slowly became emerald green. Finally, his body shaking tremendously, Sonic reached up and grabbed the sides of his head as tight as he could.  
  
"Get out of my body!" he screamed and began pulling his hands outward. The sound of both Tyrannus and Sonic screaming in agony filled the air as the hedgehog pulled with everything he had left. To Sally's shock, a dark apparition of Tyrannus' face began to appear over Sonics. The blue blur pulled harder and harder until at last, the apparition was ripped out of his body. Without a living body to contain it, the apparition couldn't survive and it dissipated into nothing. With Tyrannus finally gone, Sonic sagged to the roof, exhausted. Sally rushed to him and hugged him. Sonic put his arms around her and hugged back. It felt so good to feel her against him again. Pulling away, Sonic slowly got to his feet and walked uneasily over to Knuckles who was just starting to come around.  
  
"Oh man," the echidna groaned, gently rubbing the back of his head, "what a workout. I'm going feel that tomorrow."  
  
"You said it Red," Sonic said, with a small smile. He held out his hand and helped the echidna to stand.  
  
"I have to admit Sonic, I didn't think you could pull it out," Knuckles said, "but, I guess that isn't the first time you've proved me wrong."  
  
"Yeah and it isn't going to be the last time either," Sonic boasted, his smirk returning to his face.  
  
"Hey guys," Tails called, still entangled in the antenna, "mind giving me a hand to get out of this?" With a smile, Knuckles climbed onto the top of the electrical control centre and began untangling the fox.  
  
"What happened," he demanded, "is Tyrannus gone?"  
  
"Yeah, he's gone little buddy," Sonic said. He gazed into Sally's eyes before adding, "And gone for good." 


End file.
